Trevor Redmond is getting prepped for a cross-country walking/running journey called ‘There & Back’ in the name of encouraging Canadians to move past whatever may be holding them back.

But Redmond’s trek isn’t about raising funds for a particular cause. It’s about urging folks to ‘overcome obstacles, push back the wall, bust down the barriers and surpass what inhibits personal growth’.

Originally from Nova Scotia, Redmond relocated to Calgary several years ago for work and was recently in Red Deer to spread the word about his coming adventure, which kicks off July 1st from Stellarton, Nova Scotia at the corner of Pleasant Street and Pleasant Avenue.

“I have a motto – ‘The more we move, the more we move others’,” he explained. “I’m a huge believer that that is true.”

During a previous walk across Canada, he came across a woman who pulled over on a highway to talk with him.

“She was obviously emotional when I saw her, and she just couldn’t really get her words out. I just kind of put my arms around her and we hugged on the side of the highway. And she started to tell her story.

“She was coming back from having just seen a friend who was in the hospital fighting cancer,” he recalled. “Her seeing me on the side of the road meant a lot to her – that symbol that we are doing all that we can to try and help. That’s where ‘the more we move, the more we move others’ came from. I see it all the time.”

There’s also the health side to what he’s doing, to. Being active of course helps with illness prevention, aids in recovery results and loads of other benefits to mind and body.

“I am out to inspire movement and influence personal mobility infrastructure, inclusively for all, including helping Canadians to overcome disabilities, too,” he said. “This whole thing is also about inspiring myself. To inspire myself to go further.”

Redmond has had a penchant for trekking across and around this great nation – according to his web site, he walked 11,421 km in 2006/2007 and bicycled 14,632 km in 2009.

For this coming walk/run, he will be embarking on the 850-day, 22,000 km run across Canada and back.

“There and Back is how far we will go to help someone who needs a helping hand,” he noted on his gofundme page.

“We are interested and involved with supporting the struggle of individuals in assisting their efforts in recovering from trauma. Helping others to take steps starts with a helping hand. A ‘There & Backer’ will go to the ends of the earth and back to help others,” he said.

“From Pleasant Street and Pleasant Avenue as my start and finish line, I will advance my Movement for Movement through all 10 provinces and back to Nova Scotia,” he said.

Redmond knows plenty about overcoming the odds. At 15, he was hit by a car and almost lost his leg.

The prognosis wasn’t promising. It was thought for a time he might lose his leg.

“The doctors said to me that best they could offer was that I would be walking the rest of my life with a cane,” he recalled. “Another doctor said by my mid-30s, I would be crippled up.”

Well, he’s 46 and pretty much unstoppable.

“By my mid-30s, I had covered 26,000 km across Canada by walking and biking,” he said. “Now I’m must pushing myself further to reach more and more people.” He also looks at the coming journey as something of a personal victory lap.

“I am out to reach as many Canadians as possible and promote mobility for all. I want to break people to break down the barriers that stop them. I want them to push back the walls and overcome the obstacles. I also want them to surpass what handicaps them.”

To keep track of Redmond’s journey, check out www.thereandbackcanada.ca or follow Redmond on Instagram or facebook at ‘There & Back Canada’.